


Hide and Seek?

by sanctum_c



Series: Renegade Endless Summer 2019 - Clarity Flavour [6]
Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Aerith's Moving Castle, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Boredom, Multi, Napping, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:41:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27153310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: Aeris is bored, Tifa has nothing to do, and Cloud is nowhere to be found.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Series: Renegade Endless Summer 2019 - Clarity Flavour [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1982017
Kudos: 1





	Hide and Seek?

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt 'Afternoon Naps'

Moving the house during the day was perfectly possible, but it hindered the mystique the Eighth Heaven had acquired over the years. Far better to appear and disappear with the night; any actual sightings of the house’s slight transformation or movement dismissible or helpful by turns. Also sometimes the rocking and swaying of the house made sleep impossible so it was not perhaps the best plan, but had served them well so far.

The major downside of such a decision was times like these; too much ground to cover between major settlements. Too much ground to reach a minor outpost of isolated hamlet. Too much ground to try to blend in with another series of structures. The house was incongruous enough with its archaic design and ability to shift at will. The out of place aspect was more pronounced when in the current situation. Half-way up a mountain would stretch credibility with a random cottage. To find, up a mountain in the Corel range, a random house with both a flower shop and a bar attached was beyond the realms of plausibility for most.

But if nothing else, it provided some stunning scenery when Aeris opened the door. Also cold air. She shivered and closed the door firmly. Well away from any trails at least. And if anyone did run across them, they could spring into operation. Though outside of extreme sports enthusiasts, who would be wandering these remote trails?

Aeris wandered into the bar. “Anything to do?”

Tifa glanced at her. “Bored?”

“Kinda.” Aeris slumped onto a bar stool. “Everything’s watered, all the pots filled, everything’s got enough light...” She cast around. “Don’t feel much like reading, reception’s terrible out here...”

“Unfortunately-“ Tifa offered her an apologetic smile. “I’m more or less out of things too.” She swiped the counter with a cloth. “No inventory to do; already have what we need when we get to Gongaga.” She ticked off her fingers. “Since we got travel prep sorted, nothing’s broken. No customers so the floor’s fine. Washing up’s done.” She blinked. “We could see if Cloud has anything to do?”

Aeris glanced around. “Where is Cloud?”

He had not been in the flower shop when Aeris conceded defeat, stopped pottering around and went through to the bar. He wasn’t in the bar. He might be outside. Only- Only his boots were by the door in the main house. Tolerant to temperature extremes as he was, Cloud was not in the habit of going outside without some kind of footwear. He was inside. “Well. Not sure it’s going to exactly take us long, but-“ Tifa put down her cloth. “Hunting him down is something to do.”

They re-checked the flower-shop first. Not in amongst the racks, not behind the counter. Aeris peered out the window, but no sign of Cloud or any of his equipment outside. First location: check. A whole ten minutes separated this from Aeris’s previous entry into the bar. Unless he was now chameleonic (and after Hojo had mucked around with him, who was to say whether it was true or not. But jokes about Hojo tended to faze Cloud and such matters were best avoided unless he brought it up first on the brightest of occasions and perhaps still best not to), he was not in any of the booths, not behind the counter. Not in any of the stores.

Main house. If not here, a slightly less than desirable outside in the cold. Or calling his phone. But why cut short the entertainment? Cloud was not in the kitchen. Unable to not feel guilty, but Aeris made a point of checking the cupboard they fed the house via. Not in there either – unless already digested. Terrible thought; as if the house would turn on them abruptly after so long. No sign of him in the main room; not under the table, not under the stairs, or hidden behind a curtain. Not impossible Cloud had settled on an impromptu game of hide and seek and never told either of them.

Upstairs. And perhaps the entertainment, the exaggerated searches of improbable and impossible places kept them from the most obvious place. Together they swept curtains out of the way, peered into far too small boxes and containers. Under spare beds crammed with unsorted junk. Not in the bathroom. Not in the other spare-room. And left-

“He did get up with us this morning, right?”

Tifa frowned. “He did. At least. I’m pretty sure-“ She pushed the door open. Cloud lay snoring gently on Tifa’s side of the bed. Aeris stifled a giggle, Tifa unable to prevent her own smile. He might have dressed, but who could say if he had made it to the stairs.

“You know, a nap sounds a pretty good idea right now.” Aeris crept forward on tip-toes, Tifa making an affirmative sound behind her.

“Not like we have anything better to do.”

Aeris toed off her boots and slipped her bangles from her wrists. Slow, careful movements as she clambered up onto the bed, curling against Cloud. She settled her head on the pillow and closed her eyes, Tifa curling around her leaving her sandwiched in between them. A lazy moment, wind whistling around the peaks and against the house’s walls. Distant bird song. What might have been the roar of some monster or other. And for long moments Aeris wandered if she could nap. Tifa’s breathing became regular behind her, Cloud’s continued uninterrupted.

Was she now trapped between them? Doomed to be not bored downstairs where there were the potential of distractions, but up here where she would be with her partners but also pretty much alone. The yawn took her by surprise, and now she was delightfully drowsy. A few careful shifts and she sank back into the bed, revelling in the warmth and closeness of both Cloud and Tifa and drifted off.


End file.
